Remember my tiny plants?
We planted them.

No, not just now.  A long time ago.  I'm just getting around to telling you about it.

The kits came with "Dirt Pellets" and a packet of seeds.

Dirt "Pellet"

Dirt Pellet in Cup

We added water to the pellet.

Fluffed the "dirt."

"Dirt"

 Do you think just getting regular dirt would have been easier?  I think so too.
Ready for the seeds.

Seeds

Tiny seed on the tip of my finger.

Planting seeds.

Lightly pressing them into the soil.

Tiny Seeds in Dirt

Then I used the wrappers to make markers.

Wrapper

Tiny Plants

Waiting for tiny plants to sprout...

Right about now you are all probably dying to know how big and beautiful they are.  So, I thought I would let you down easy.

I killed them.

You must admit, I did warn you.  I can't grow anything but mold in the back of my fridge.  That I am very skilled at growing.  But anything that could actually be considered desirable growth?  I have a knack.

A knack for death.

Ok, in my defense, I didn't really KILL them.  The plants were too smart for that.  That would have been way too interesting.  I might have had pictures of little plants springing up, stretching out with new life, twisting toward the light, curving, curling their way, winding, shriveling, cringing, dying.

Those little guys never saw the light of day.  They blatantly refused to even give me a chance to kill them.  They of little faith.  I guess the word has gotten out.  The spirits of all the plants I have ever neglected, or overly attended, have passed on their sad tale.  Of a life cut too short.

With one exception.

One of the plants was a fighter.  He decided to try his luck against my reputation.  He pushed his way forward.

Tiny Tomato Sprout

Thriving against all odds.

Bigger Tomato Sprout - Not dead yet!

Taking the extra water he got one day.  To make up for the lack the day after.  That little tomato plant was a trooper.  Is a trooper?

You see he is still hanging around.

But he stopped growing.  And turned all yellow like.
It's like he just suddenly decided life wasn't all it was cracked up to be.

One day he was shooting up and the next he was all, "Eh."

And I was sure he was dead.
But he is still there.  Not really growing or shrinking.  Not looking better or worse.  I have no clue how to save him.  If I even can.  If it's not too late.

He has been this way for over a month!  I think it's actually been two. (Dwija I totally started this sentence with actually and then rewrote it just for you.)

When he first stopped growing I thought maybe he needed more space, so I transplanted him into a bigger pot.
Nothing.

I have continued to water him the same way as before.  It worked long enough to get him this big.
What did I do wrong?

Honestly, I think those seeds were just defective.  Or even more likely those suspicious looking "dirt pellets."  Because I also planted some Basil around the same time as the tiny plants.  I had a packet of seeds.  I had a regular pot.  I just put them in some (real) dirt and watered them.

They sprouted.

And continued to grow.

 Basil plant is doing just fine.

It likes me for some strange reason.
At least for now.  I'm not getting too attached.
And now for one of my son's science projects I am supposed to help him grow a Strawberry plant.  It's not even just one tiny little project.  It keeps popping back up throughout the book.  Not enough to just plant the thing.  We've already done that!  No.  We have to keep checking back with it.  Recording it's progress.  Something like...

Week One.  Planted Strawberry plant.  Watered Strawberry plant everyday.
Week Two.  Watered Strawberry plant everyday.
Week Three. Watered Strawberry plant everyday.  How long do these things take to sprout?
Week Four.  Watered Strawberry plant everyday.
Week Five.  Watered Strawberry plant everyday.
Week Six.  Watered Strawberry plant everyday.
Week Seven.  Watered Strawberry plant everyday.
Week Fifty Two. This is getting old.
Week Eighty Five. Strawberry plant seems to be dead.  Watered dirt in pot everyday.
Week Three Hundred Eighty Two.  Still dead.  Still watering.
Week Four Thousand. Still dead.  This seems to be a waste of water.
Week Seventy Billion.  Still dead.  I give up!

Now that's a science project!  What have we learned today son?  "Mommy can't grow plants."

I'm thinking we'll just use the Basil as the science project.  That's one of the advantages to homeschooling.  I get the final say over science projects that may need a little tweaking.

Two projects in one.  Life and death of tiny plants!

Done and done.